World’s Most Hated Man, Martin Shkreli, Arrested for Fraud

Martin Shkreli, the man who attained nationwide infamy by purchasing the rights to an AIDS-treatment drug and increasing the price from $13.50 to $750 per pill overnight, was arrested at his Manhattan apartment early Thursday morning.

Shkreli, currently the CEO of Turing Pharaceuticals, was charged with securities fraud dating to when he had previously run a hedge fund called MSMB Capital Management and another pharmaceutical firm, Retrophin. He was arrested in Midtown by the FBI, among other law enforcement.

The arrest was not in connection with his company's notorious purchase of Daraprim, a pill often used by HIV-positive patients. Shkreli defended his decision to raise the price of the 62-year-old drug by more than 5000 percent, even saying that he wished he'd raised it more. “I probably would have raised the price higher” if he could do it over again, he said. “My investors expect me to maximize profits.”

Also arrested was Evan L. Greebel, formerly a lawyer with Shkreli at Retrophin, on charges of wire fraud and assisting Shkreli. The two were indicted in Brooklyn by federal prosecutors who are scheduled to hold a press conference announcing the charges at noon (EST) on Thursday. The basic scheme they are accusing Shkreli of is illegally using funds from Retrophin to pay back investors when his hedge fund collapsed in 2011.